Champions Volume 1: Change the World

I am absolutely in love with the Champions! I had a feeling I would enjoy it given how much I adore Kamala Khan but this went far beyond my expectations. After the events of Civil War II (discussed here and here), several of the younger Avengers are fed up and quit. They joined the Avengers in the first place because they were more than people with powers punching each other. So, when you’re qualified to be an Avenger but want to do more for people? Want to change the world?

The Champions aren’t out taking care of super villains, they’re concerned with people and it shows. Their first few missions are all rescuing normal people from some of the worst problems that we have in real life. They also aren’t just punching their way through things. This volume has four “missions” and none of them end with the more powerful person punching until their considered right. I love that.

There’s also something pretty awesome to the missions they choose and the fact that Ms. Marvel makes a reference to Malala Yousafzai and her story while making a case for one of the missions that they do justice too. I love the focus on justice and rescue. They don’t want to punch their way through. Justice isn’t on the side of the most powerful and they’re willing to take a beat from the people they are attempting to rescue. They’ll take direction and get it done the way the people they’re saving want the outcome to be and not assume they know what’s best for the people who have to live with the consequences of their actions.

The team is a great ensemble of young heroes, most of which I am unfamiliar with. I only know Ms. Marvel, though I have seen stuff about the Miles Morales Spider-Man before. There’s a young Hulk named Amadeus Cho and Visions daughter, Viv. There’s a young Nova named Sam Alexander and then there’s a young displaced Scott Summers from an alternate universe. More about the team can be found on the Wikipedia page here. Some of them know each other, others only know of each other, but they all want to do things differently and they don’t want to be taking orders and sidelined by their former heroes who don’t appear to be the people they expected. There’s a great issue where they break down their powers for each other and some time spent figuring out who the leader should be.

I loved every moment of it, even when they got unexpected additions with expectations that didn’t quite line up with theirs. It’s not just about what you do, but how you do it. That’s a sentiment that the movies have been attempting to drive home as well. I can’t wait to read the next volume and see what else is in store for the Champions.